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Shosuro
Shosuro was a human who became the first follower of the Kami Bayushi. She was actually made from a piece of the Lying Darkness. Her superb acting skills and expert deceptions impressed her master. A Kharmic Tie was created between them, and she was sometimes known as Bayushi's Daughter. Hidden Emperor, p. 72 Creation Shosuro was created by the kenku Mukashi and his brother Takashi using a small piece of Nothing. Mukashi hoped that by giving the small piece a purpose it would be shown a different path. Mukashi intended for Shosuro to replace a small girl named Shuro who had gone missing from a nearby village. Shortly after Shosuro's creation Shuro was found and Shosuro was left without a purpose. Saddened, Shosuro vowed to find a father for herself. The Daughter, by Seth Mason The Name The name "Shosuro" was thought by many as an obvious pseudonym, being a slight bastardization of the word "shosuru", which means "name" in Rokugani. It was known that Bayushi often called her "Shosuko", a nickname fathers usually gave to their first-born daughters, and "Soshisa", which meant "founder" in Rokugani. Way of the Scorpion, p. 22 Questions Unanswered Shosuro did not know her origins, and she did not know why she could alter her form with a thought. She expected Bayushi would surely be able to give her the answers she sought — who was she? Bayushi's Follower In the year 17 Imperial Histories, p. 14 Shosuro came to Bayushi's notice first as a stable boy. It was not until later that same night that Bayushi realised she could change her shape when Shosuro held a knife to his throat at a geisha house. Shosuro became one of Bayushi's first followers. Way of the Scorpion, pp. 22-23 Shiba and Togashi Bayushi would bring Shosuro to meet with Shiba, but Shosuro could sense that Shiba was aware Shosuro was something more than human. Sometime later Togashi appeared before Bayushi and warned him that Shosuro would have to follow her own, different path. Bayushi was quite angered with Togashi and refused to believe in the destiny Togashi had foreseen. The Day of Thunder When Shinsei came to aid the Kami in their fight against their brother Fu Leng and required seven humans, The Seven Thunders, Bayushi refused to let any more Scorpion die in this war. Shosuro ignored his order and she went anyway, intent on not dying. Shosuro family Shosuro left behind three students who had learned the secrets of her techniques, being the eldest Shosuro Kinjiko. They took on their sensei's name and continued to serve Bayushi in her memory. Since then, the Shosuro family has served the Bayushi family. Facing Fu Leng When they entered the Fu Leng's keep Shosuro was not with them. Isawa was already binding Fu Leng when the Thunders saw Shosuro again. She had been finding another way out. Fu Leng was eventually bound to the scrolls and the First Oni attacked furiously when it did not see its master. Hida Atarasi stood and sacrificed himself to allow Shosuro to escape with the scrolls and Shinsei. Day of Thunder, by Rich Wulf Bargaining with the Nothing The Darkness had followed Shosuro and the other Thunders since they entered the Shadowlands. Way of Shadow, p. 146 While the First Oni was chasing Shsouro, the Darkness approaced her, and promised escape, hope... and answers. The Darkness had the knowledge Shosuro had sought, and the Scorpion Thunder willingly embraced the touch of the Darkness. Returning Rokugan Shosuro was the only one of the Seven Thunders who survived the battle and came back to Otosan Uchi. She had made a pact with the Darkness to escape the Shadowlands alive, and yet even so it was only when the Kami Shiba intervened and sacrificed his life battling with the First Oni, which had been chasing Shosuro to recover the scrolls, that enabled her to escape the Shadowlands alive. The First Oni She brought with her an obsidian hand which came to be known as Shosuro's Hand, which was in fact Onnotangu's Hand. Given to her by the Darkness, the Obsidian Hand held not only the flesh of a God, but a piece of the soul of the Shadow. She also brought back from Shadowlands an obsidian mirror and a satchel with twelve scrolls, which had been created by the Phoenix Clan Thunder, Isawa, to imprison Fu Leng's soul. Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 7 Corruption of the Shadow Shosuro arranged for a small number of shinobi students to be “recruited” out of the clan each year. These students were taken to secret dojo, and each was touched with the Obsidian Hand, exposing them to the power of Shadow. Most of them eventually became Shadowspawn, absorbed into the Lying Darkness forever. Great Clans, p. 213 Faked Death After returning to the Imperial Palace of Otosan Uchi, she faked her own death. Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 7 The Darkness had told her of her true self. She and it were the same, it claimed, formed from the primal Nothing that existed without form and without a name. Nothing was slowly turning her back into the formlessness from which she came. Shosuro family The Shosuro family was founded by the remaining followers of Shosuro herself, built around the nucleus of an acting troupe who were actually spies and infiltrators. Great Clans, p. 206 Soshi The mask and clothes of Shosuro were cremated, and a young shugenja stood beside Bayushi and lit the pyre. Bayushi and the shugenja, who said his name was Soshi, walked together and built a secret fortress guarded by sorcery and shadow. The shugenja took Shosuro's place at Bayushi's side, becoming Bayushi's advisor and closest confidant. Way of the Scorpion, p. 25 She had changed her identity and founded one of the two Scorpion Clan Shugenja schools, the Soshi family. Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, p. 10 Shadow Brands After Fu Leng's defeat Hantei requested Bayushi to create a spy network. Bayushi accepted and the ninja were born. Roleplaying in the Emerald Empire, p. 185 Soshi aided Bayushi developing a new style of magic called Shinobi. After further experiments, Soshi was able to imprint Bayushi's spies with shadow brands, literally making them one with the shadows. Of the souls it touched, one in fifteen were taken by the Darkness never to return. These nameless souls would be the price of Shosuro's bargain for the incoming years. Way of Shadow, p. 146 Imprisoned Her link to the Lying Darkness was too strong, and she finally was Lost to the Shadow. Traveling to the Dragon lands, she importuned Togashi to help her, whereupon he encased her in a crystal cage by deep beneath Kyuden Togashi in 82, while other sources dated it in 59. Imperial Histories, p. 18 Tempting Kokujin In 1132 the mad Dragon Hitomi Kokujin began their conversations with Shosuro. They made a bargain, Kokujin would join the Shadowlands forces and Goju Adorai would lure the armies of the Empire to a trap deep in the Shadowlands, where surrounded by minions of Jigoku they would be destroyed. Kokuhjin should wait until Shosuro were released from her prison. The Race to Volturnum: Shadowlands Hitomi The Dragon Clan Champion Hitomi believed that Shosuro had the knowledge to avoid the future she saw and how to defeat Onnotangu, Rulebook Story (Siege of Sleeping Mountain) and threatened Shosuro with death. Mirumoto taki (Soul of the Empire flavor) Then, using the knowledge she had of Darkness (for the Obsidian Hand was the hand of the Moon himself), Hitomi began experimenting with Shosuro. The Dragon Clan, by Edward Bolme and Ree Soesbee (Imperial Herald #15) Hitomi wished to gain knowledge about the Lying Darkness and the Nothing, how to harness the Darkness, and she expected Shosuro could give her these secrets. Hidden Emperor, p. 39 Shosuro Released Shosuro goaded Hitomi, who pressed her Obsidian Hand against the crystal prison and invaded the mind of the prisoner. As Hitomi's will was distracted by the visions Shosuro grudgingly shared with her, the Scorpion Thunder reached the scrap of Nothing that remained in the Hand. As if by its own will, the Obsidian Hand smashed the crystal, Hidden Emperor, pp. 39-40 Hitomi had released her from this imprisonment before realizing her grave mistake. For hundreds of years Shosuro had been trapped in the light of the crystal prison, hidden away from the Darkness. Now her Master's will won her freedom from the crystal cage through a tiny crack, but it was all the Shapeshifter needed. Careful Planning (Siege of Sleeping Mountain flavor) The two Thunders clashed one against each other, but Shosuro was too weak, too dazed from over a thousand years of imprisonment and a sudden release, so she escaped. Hidden Emperor, p. 40 Embracing her Fate Shosuro's torment had awakened the Shadow itself. After one thousand years of imprisonment Shosuro was disappointed with two broken promises. Bayushi never came, Togashi died years ago, and Shosuro's body and soul yet remained corrupted. She had come to understand that once again the Lying Darkness offered her the truth when others lied. She had become a willing minion of the Darkness. Hidden Emperor, p. 73 Against Rokugan Shosuro went to the Shrine of the Seven Thunders, killed all the guardian monks and stole the Shosuro's Cloak from the Shrine. Clan Letter to the Brotherhood #7 (Imperial Herald v3 #3) Shosuro killed several Crane bushi. The Emerald Champion, Seppun Toshiken, fought her, and his blows fell like rain, but Shosuro only laughed, then cocked her head and vanished. Son of the Clan (Soul of the Empire flavor) War in the Heavens Prior to the duel between Hitomi and Onnotangu that decided the War in the Heavens in 1132, Togashi incarnated in Hitomi condemned Lord Moon for stealing away Bayushi's only love in his envy and hatred. War in the Heavens, by Ree Soesbee Kachiko's Lake Shosuro was nearly lost to the Shadows, but while she shared part of her soul with Bayushi Kachiko and was the Scorpion Thunder alive, Shosuro could not be truly consumed. Hidden Emperor, p. 65 She went after Kachiko to kill her and to replace Goju Adorai as the true avatar of the Lying Darkness. Even as the Clans were fighting the Shadows at the Battle of Oblivion's Gate in 1133, Shosuro went to Kyuden Bayushi and reached Kachiko at the Sleeping Lake. Bayushi manifested himself at the lake and drew both Kachiko and Shosuro into the lake with him. Kachiko merged her soul with Shosuro's. Their bodies would die but their spirits would be far from Darkness' reach. Hidden Emperor, p. 81 Legend of the Five Rings; Third Edition, p. 23 [http://www.l5r.com/archive/rpg/products/l5r_he_whoswho.pdf Legend of the Five Rings: Hidden Emperor Who's Who PDF, p. 18] See also * Shosuro/Meta External Links * Shosuro Exp (Dark Journey Home) * Shosuro Exp7 (Dawn of the Empire) Category:Nothing Personalities Category:Scorpion Clan Members